he has seen a wolf
Preserved but no longer current.
Something or other has frightened him; formerly said of a person who had lost his voice. Our forefathers believed that if a man saw a wolf before the wolf saw him, he became dumb, at least for a time.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “he has seen a wolf” mean?
Something or other has frightened him; formerly said of a person who had lost his voice. Our forefathers believed that if a man saw a wolf before the wolf saw him, he became dumb, at least for a time.
Is “he has seen a wolf” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.